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Alcohol’s Good for You? Some Scientists Doubt It

nytimes.com — For some scientists, the question will not go away. No study, these critics say, has ever proved a causal relationship between moderate drinking and lower risk of death.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 16, 2009

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  • SirTheGuy, on 06/16/2009, -2/+51A lower risk of death? Last I checked, approximately 6 billion people have a 100% chance of death
  • TouchingWood, on 06/16/2009, -2/+37LIES!! ~hic~
  • emecks, on 06/16/2009, -3/+18I'll drink to that :D
  • NaturalCauzes, on 06/16/2009, -0/+13Well, I'm gonna keep pounding brews until this says the opposite.
  • Rain12913, on 06/16/2009, -2/+15As the article points out, those studies are simply correlational and do not demonstrate causation. It's likely that a third variable effect is present.
  • Mockylock, on 06/16/2009, -4/+16My great grandmother drank a shot of whiskey or wine every day. She lived to be 99.

    I think if you lead a healthy life, alcohol wouldn't HURT you, per se... but the amount of sugar probably isn't good for you if you don't eat well.
  • hoSSo, on 06/16/2009, -4/+14This was debunked a long time ago. All those studies done with red wine showed that it was actually the antioxidants in the grapes that promoted the good health. They came up with the same results when they substituted the red wine with grape juice.
  • MrInfallible, on 06/16/2009, -0/+10Any substance we consume in large enough quanities is toxic, even water. Quite a number of clinical treatments are derived from neurotoxins in much lower concentrations, I think moderate is the key word here.
  • Rain12913, on 06/16/2009, -1/+10Yeah I'm not too sure "everything is good" there champ. Many things are bad for you, even in moderation. Alcohol in moderation may not be bad for you, but so far the only evidence suggesting it's actually good for you is correlational and not causal, so making the claim that it is in fact good for you is not quite accurate.
  • detales, on 06/16/2009, -0/+9I don't drink to avoid death, I drink to get drunk.

    What now, science?
  • einrobstein, on 06/16/2009, -1/+10As an alcoholic it is unlikely that you consumed alcohol moderately. Your experience is already agreed upon by scientists to be completely normal because drinking in excess is known to be harmful.
  • collution, on 06/16/2009, -2/+10Bad for the mind, good for the soul.
  • ScissorHand26, on 06/16/2009, -1/+9You are definitely a scientist.
    I can tell because your name references a video game.
  • inactive, on 06/16/2009, -1/+9what doesn't your body filter out?
  • sonnybobiche, on 06/16/2009, -1/+8Not really. A neurotoxin implies that cell death reliably results from exposure to levels of the substance that are not damaging to other types of cells.
  • Drakoi, on 06/16/2009, -0/+7"To alcohol! the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems"
  • sonnybobiche, on 06/16/2009, -1/+8Well it's not really bad for you, and it's tasty treat, so I say drink on.
  • WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -0/+7Not less *worthy* but certainly less *exact* - sociologists have massive amounts of trouble setting up controls, since it's harder to eliminate possible variables in people than in test tubes =P
  • iguanapunk, on 06/16/2009, -2/+9Well when I am drunk I feel great, so put that in your study and drink it.
  • getoffmybridge, on 06/16/2009, -8/+15no
  • GeekNurse, on 06/16/2009, -3/+9It's on Wikipedia so it must be true.
  • borez, on 06/16/2009, -1/+7I liked the part about drinking.
  • DankJemo, on 06/16/2009, -1/+6Good, or bad it is irrelevant. I really like beer, and whiskey for that matter... and Yes Scissors, Marijuana is still good for you, in fact it is better for you than it was 2 minutes ago. :-p
  • sdipaola, on 06/16/2009, -0/+5alcoholic (all) kills brain cells - always has, always will
  • galanz, on 06/16/2009, -2/+7“The moderate drinkers tend to do everything right — they exercise, they don’t smoke, they eat right and they drink moderately,” said Kaye Middleton Fillmore, a retired sociologist from the University of California, San Francisco

    Heheh, sociologist? Really? Maybe they should ask a real scientist?

    I also notice the omission of any mention of resveratrol.
  • inactive, on 06/16/2009, -2/+7I'd rather live good than have a good liver.
  • piznut, on 06/16/2009, -1/+5that special kind of drunk where you're a better driver because you know you're drunk, you know the kind of drunk where you probably shouldn't drive, but you do anyways because, I mean come on, you got to get your car home, right? I mean what do they expect me do, take a bus? Is that what they want? For me to take a bus? Well screw that! You take a bus.
  • inactive, on 06/16/2009, -1/+5Exercise can also improve cardiovascular health...
  • MrInfallible, on 06/16/2009, -0/+4It's very necessary.
  • Greenhouse568, on 06/16/2009, -1/+4There are other elements to red wine that also have a large health benefit.
  • thefox84, on 06/16/2009, -5/+8If we listened to science for all of our decisions, we'd live pathetic lives.
  • MaryCait, on 06/16/2009, -0/+3I keep trying to do this thing where I stop drinking for a really long time. Yeah, it's a social thing and fun, but I always think about health, feeling like *****, calories, saving money, etc. etc.
    That's all well and good! But then, I go out again and 2 drinks set me over the tipsypoint (since I haven't drank in so long) and I can't help but think "wow, this rocks!"
    I am a *****.
  • Leviathan433, on 06/16/2009, -0/+3Alcohol might not be good for ME, but it's worse for YOU if I don't drink it.
  • dhughes, on 06/16/2009, -2/+5 Ethyl alcohol a class 1 carcinogen according to the WHO and one of a few substances that can trigger cell death (apoptosis) on contact but if distilleries say it's good for you well who can argue with that!
  • inactive, on 06/16/2009, -1/+4So everyone would benefit from pumping themself full of a little bit of every drug known to man?
  • MicrosoftBob, on 06/16/2009, -0/+3http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museumoflondon/im ...

    ;-)
  • FLarsen, on 06/16/2009, -0/+3Let me fix that for you:
    It's on Wikipedia so there's a high probability that it's true.
  • askantik, on 06/16/2009, -0/+3Grape JUICE doesn't have added sugar, and certainly not HFCS. Grape drink, might. We all know about that purple stuff.
  • piznut, on 06/16/2009, -0/+3I am doing /extensive/ research into the effects of heavy, long-term drinking. Ill let you know how it turns out.
  • phoggey, on 06/16/2009, -1/+4Way to go you rebellious free-thinker. You obviously do not follow the clearly defined "rules of science" at all that says you have to do certain things and are limited to only one choice. Now ride off in your cool motorcycle and pop some wheelies.

    You do listen to science for every decision you make. Drinking alcohol will give you a buzz and make you temporarily more relaxed, science has stated. You want this effect, so you decide the gains in a momentary "buzz" are worth more than a healthier lifestyle. You think you've circumvented reason and science (the very thing that built that alcohol in order to be safe for consumption) by drinking alcohol? You haven't, mr non-rebel.
  • silverhydra, on 06/16/2009, -0/+3did you skip over the part about alcohol consumers having slower neural degeneration?

    http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltex ...

    it was in the article you supposedly read
  • wh3873, on 06/16/2009, -2/+5It's a less worthy field of study than Art History.
  • ThomasDyer, on 06/16/2009, -0/+2Get your Victory Gin, it's good for you.
  • jbmcb, on 06/16/2009, -1/+3Sure, pure ethyl alcohol is nasty. So is pure sodium, it will kill you if you ingest it. However, you need it in small amounts to survive.

    It's a matter of dilution. There is no evidence showing that taking moderate amounts of alcohol does any long term damage. Show me a study proving otherwise.

    > but if distilleries say it's good for you well who can argue with that!

    Show me a recent announcement or press release from a major distillery saying alcohol is good for you.
  • Philbert, on 06/16/2009, -0/+2Since when is being drunk all the time living good? Ever seen the movie Arthur (or the sequel Arthur On The Rocks)?
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082031/
  • sindrit, on 06/16/2009, -0/+2Alcohol's bad for you? Some drinkers don't care.
  • temporarysanity, on 06/16/2009, -2/+4Right, except if you drink grape juice you probably get a ton of sugar, much of it from HFCS. So on balance, moderately drinking wine is probably healthier.
  • samk, on 06/16/2009, -2/+4I see a definite causal relationship. Ever since I started drinking, I've lived a long time.
  • makotech222, on 06/16/2009, -0/+2dug for verbal ownage
  • ProfessorSYM, on 06/16/2009, -1/+3I drink because it makes me a better driver.
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